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Nubia got a message from Olliver, she smiled reading it to herself as she sat within her favorite cafe, thus far, within the hub. She had found that she often enjoyed spending time with the business-savvy fellow, and she was grateful to have made such a useful and beneficial connection throughout her tutorial. Not only was he able to procure goods, but he was also able to teleport and scout. All in all, he was a good guy to have around. After all, every mercenary needs an arms dealer.[break][break]

Making her way to the waygate Nubia stretched before reaching into her inventory and grabbing out her dagger. Making her way through it Nubia found herself once again in one of the most familiar places she had been thus far, the countryside. She felt that she had spent more time here than in any other zone in the world. Thus her demeanor was a lot more relaxed.[break][break]

Her eyebrow shot up, and she placed a single hand on her waist as she spotted Ollie, A picnic basket? What was this about, was this some new item? Or maybe he just wanted to sit and eat? Was this... A date? A small blush fell upon her cheeks as she moved closer. "Well, well, well, I see you finally got that picnic basket, Yogi~" She mused, a slight chuckle escaping her lips.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Ollie [TAGGED]

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Her finger twitched, she was going to stab him but instead, she decided to hear him out, she didn't know why, perhaps it was just because she liked the words coming out of his mouth, or perhaps it was how calm he continued to stay. Nubia sighed listening to his words, "you're right I am, and I just might," Nubia said a smile accompanying her scowl.[break][break]

She sighed "in the future I would still recommend a warning, had this not been in a safe zone I would've killed you immediately," she said tilting the blade with one finger as the sheath rested on its tip. Though she felt bad for the guy if he wasn't lying about the unconditional effect of his ability it meant he could never show his face. What a way to live, she wasn't sure if she should trick him and take him into a not-so-safe zone and put an end to his suffering or use it to her advantage.[break][break]

"Mmhm, sure," she said listening to his drawl, how much longer was he going to try and sell himself to her? In her mind he sounded desperate, she could work with that. Though the fact, that he didn't know it worked on monsters was rather troubling. He wasn't wrong about him not taking advantage of her at the moment, much as she hated to admit it he wasn't wrong he could've taken advantage of her.[break][break]

She let out a deep sigh, as the guy pulled out a carton of cigarettes, "much as I hate to admit it you aren't wrong," she rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers, closing her eyes for a second longer than normal before opening them. "First things first we'll have to make sure your ability does work on monsters, that could be useful if it does." She placed her dagger back into her inventory.[break][break]

She let her shoulders relax, her scowl went away as she continued, "tell me more about your class," she said running her free hand through her hair. Continuing soon after as she let her finger twirl around one of the curls of her afro. "Additionally, no using that skill on anybody I consider a friend. I don't trust such an ability used on people I care about."[break][break]

Then she let a sly smile fall to her lips, "now... Let's talk terms."[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]enigma [TAGGED]

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She didn't like him, but because regardless of how she felt about the matter she had no way to truly dispute his words, however, she decided that know could be used for interrogation instead. "So you couldn't give me a warning about it beforehand then?" She said, her scowl increasing. "Instead you decided that it would be best to use your little hypnosis to force your point across, and now you try to spin it as some damn example of what you can do," Nubia said, taking her dagger out from her inventory. [break][break]

She let the sheathed blade stand up on the table, her hands gripping the handle so hard that her knuckles turned white. "You know just because I can't kill you in her, doesn't mean I can stab you, constantly. I'm sure eventually the pain would drive anyone mad," Nubia said her tone serious. A few people shot glances toward them before quickly turning away, she kept her voice low enough not to make a scene, but a dagger on a table wasn't something most could just ignore.[break][break]

"Say I am to believe you, do you think such gimmicks are enough, can your skills even work on creatures?" Nubia said, her tone laced with curiosity, his powers could be useful if they worked on more than just people. People were easy after all, they could be bribed with words or currency, and they could be just easily dispatched... [break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]enigma [TAGGED]

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"Huh, what was that?" Nubia asked wiping the blood from her blade, and the small spurt that had gotten on her cheek. Between the lashing of the wind around her and her blade cutting into the creature's flesh, she could barely hear him. That was until her adrenaline seemed to slow down and she focused on the sound of his voice.[break][break]

She turned to let the wet snow slosh against her face, she hated the cold, and the sooner they could loot more creatures and get out of here the better. Nubia took a deep breath she didn't know the anatomy of this creature she wasn't even a hunter let alone someone that knew how to properly cut into and harvest a creature. She was sure the way she was doing it was sloppy. However, her precision strength and her skill when it came to Lingchi were practiced well enough that she could take her blade. [break][break]

Nubia chuckled at his words, cutting into the flesh of the creature, once she created an incision she slipped the blade between its hide and muscle and began to carve, taking off as much as she can and trying to keep it in as much as one piece as she could. Then she dug the blade into the teeth, claws, and eyes, popping them off with a cut. However, she stopped to let take a wooden stick, a wand? From the beast's mouth. Placing a few pieces of fur, teeth, and claws in her inventory and handed the rest over to Ollie before wiping her bloodied gloves in the snow.[break][break]

"So what was that wand about, does it actually work?" Nubia questioned, she was truly curious she knew everyone had a class, and that sometimes drops could come from creatures but this wasn't something she had seen before.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Ollie [TAGGED]

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It was clear as Wes began inspecting the outside of the bar that the guy wasn't used to this sort of thing. She stifled a chuckle, it was clear he was one of the people that were just "normal" in the world beforehand, perhaps he had survived this long due to luck, or perhaps his critical thinking skills were above average. Though considering his way of retracing his steps earlier she liked to think that Wes leaned more toward the latter.[break][break]

Nubia walked alongside him, her daggers sheath on her hip and her hand resting atop it. She watched Wes touch the windows and then check the wooden boards. Her eyebrow rose as she saw that it had been nailed from the outside. Either someone was trying to keep something in, or they were foolish. Nailing boards from the outside would only damage the frame if something tried to break in, and would only survive to be a hindrance if something actually broke the board, no quick fixes would be possible. "Suspicious, that's pretty amateur work for farmhand..." she said in a low muttered tone. [break][break]

She didn't see any footprints either, then she smiled as Wes turned to her. Perhaps he was waiting for her to take the lead, at least that's what she figured, she was about to but then he had decided to walk the length of the barn. She shrugged and followed, why was she even following him? Perhaps it was because he was kind and clueless? Maybe it was repayment for giving her this area quest? Yeah, that had to be it, simple repayment is all. She couldn't be going that soft to do the former. She couldn't afford to, not in a world like this. [break][break]

Nubia saw him wave and she quickly began to move, walking on the balls of her feet to minimize the sound of her footfalls. She resisted the urge to chuckle at the signal of the rabbit by Wes. She nodded as he pointed toward the opposite corner, and she hurriedly made her way over. Making her way toward the edge of the barn a frown came upon her face. [break][break]

She glanced around but didn't see anything besides the spare interior of the barn. She found the two levels strange, what kind of barn was this? Where was the ladder to the way up? Seeing the tables, chairs, and cot, perhaps someone had made this their resting area. Their campground so to say, or perhaps it was just left over from the world's change.[break][break]

She looked toward the large stacks of hay then her eyes went wide as she saw the large hole in the ground. "What the fuck..." She muttered in the same low volume as earlier, she looked to Wes, widening her eyes as if to say 'are you seeing this too?' With caution and her hand on her weapon, she moved closer, inspecting the hole she could see that it looked to be some kind of tunnel. [break][break]

She shrugged looked at Wes and pointed to him, then herself, then the hole. The next thing she knew she was grabbing some hay, and taking out a lighter from her inventory. She bundled the hay lit the top ablaze and then let it drop, hoping to see the bottom or at least more of the hole. If it was only deep enough for her to crawl inside without harming herself she would do so, ushering Wes to do the same after she looked around to see if there was any danger. If it was too far down for her to get in safely, she would simply search around looking for some form of ladder or rope.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Wesley Mackie [TAGGED]

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Nubia smiled and nodded to Wes, the boy seemed excited, and she wasn't one that liked to sour someone's mood. At least not now, besides she could be in the making of gaining potential new allies and Nubia was always one who liked to make as many connections as she could. Especially now and in such a world where her talents in mercenary work were now even more prevalent. She found that mercenary work often came down to how strong one's reputation was, and in the old world she had already built up a heft sum of it, taking small jobs to build herself up. Not to mention having her mother's connections. Though now, the world was different, such connections, such reputation was gone. Everyone had the ability to fight to some degree thanks to their classes, so selling her might to others had become that much harder. However, not everyone could fight effectively, and that's where she came in, though only if people knew about her. [break][break]

Nubia's smile widened after Wes accepted the party invite, her shoulders visibly relaxing even more so than they had been before. She thought long and hard about Wes's words, the boy didn't have any clue where their target was, which wasn't a surprise otherwise why would he still be here? Still, wandering around this barren field? She nodded in reply, though then what Wes said made her think. She had never done a so-called area event so she had no clue where to start looking. Thankfully it seemed Wes had a general idea. [break][break]

"Hmm, I guess we better get started then, we don't know if any other 'players' will be in the mix, nor do we know what risk we might take before others get involved... If they even can." Nubia said with a shrug, as she glanced at the abandoned buildings. They looked rather creepy, but in a world full of monsters, and after what she had faced in her tutorial she didn't let it bother her too much. [break][break]

"I guess we prepare for everything then, and hope for the best," Nubia said her smile widening as she did. She took her dagger and placed it in her left hand. After which she began to follow Wes, taking slow precise careful steps so much so that she practically walked in the boy's footsteps that he had left behind with each step. Though from a foot or so back, on the off chance he came to a sudden halt. She had no qualms about moving slow or cautiously, nor getting close to the dead foliage, as her time in the forest had taught her that all manner of creatures often liked to hide in tall fields.[break][break]

Though she walked as slowly and carefully as Wes, Nubia was visibly more relaxed, after all, she had a class that excelled in combat, and she wondered why Wes himself was so careful, was his class the opposite, or was he just an overly cautious person? Perhaps it was both, but she found herself wondering how someone like that would make it through a tutorial if it was anything like the one she had that is. [break][break]

Glancing toward the destroyed roof she wondered if it was something that happened when the world was reformatted, something left over, or something that had been due to the influence of sentient life... Though as she glanced around she saw none, "odd," Nubia muttered as she looked around. She kept her voice low because as it stood things were rather concerning, not due to any factors besides the fact that there didn't seem to be any. It was an eerie silence that picked at the back of her mind, her instinct telling her that something was afoot. Though as to what that was, she supposed time would tell...[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Wesley Mackie [TAGGED]